Footpaths

Though it's not something we're likely to make a habit we went for a walk in the country today.

Near Villena there are some old kilns that were used to turn gypsum into the raw material for plaster - the Hornos de Yeso - and they are near where the Villena Treasure was found.

It wasn't the most scenic spot in Alicante. There was a tip close by and lots of people seemed to have lost heart within sight of their goal and just dumped stuff by the side of the track. Nonetheless, the spot did have a certain charm and lots of lizards.

We followed a public footpath. There's a very simple system in Spain for marking paths. Red and white bands are used for long distance paths, yellow and white for shorter paths and green and white for the local stuff. The bands are usually painted on rocks, fenceposts, walls etc and they are normally well maintained. If the bands are crossed it means not to go there and a hinged symbol marks a turn.

The markings for the path we followed today were haphazard to say the best. Illusionist markers - now you see them, now you don't.

Well now - there's a thing

The Chair of The European Committe on Constitutional Affairs, Carlo Casini, sent a letter to Erminia Massoni the Chair of the EU Committee on Petitions about the two petitions sent by Estelle Gouerou (French Citizen) and Christopher Thompson (that's me) (British Citizen) on the right of EU Citizens to vote in another Member State.

Erminia kindly copied the letter to me.

Carlo told Erminia that the AFCO Coordinators had agreed, at their meeting on 10 October, that no EU treaty gives the right to citizens to vote in other member states. He did point out that Ms Gurmai has suggested, as paragraph 10 of her draft opinion to the PETI Committee on the  EU Citizenship Report 2010, that countries, like Spain and Germany, where Regional Assemblies are vested with legislative powers, could be invited by the EU Parliament to grant voting rights to EU Citizens in regional elections. Carlo also mentioned that a member of his committee, Mr Duff, has asked that the European Commission ensure that all Member States take action on the European Convention on Human Rights which guarantees the right to vote.

It looks as though it will all be thoroughly aired at the Conference on Inclusive Democracy to be hosted by AFCO and LIBE on the 9 and 10 November at the European Parliament when EU Citizens' voting rights will be on the agenda even though the primary purpose of the conference is to disseminate the outcome of the research done by the European Union Democracy Observatory based, as I'm sure you're aware, at the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies of the European University Institute

So that's nice and clear then.

Beetles

Why so many? Why are there so many lying on their backs waving their legs in the air? We have tens, maybe hundreds, of biggish beetles circling the house and, ocassionally, popping in to say hello.